Northern Liberties Gas Company.

The Northern Liberties Gas Company was organized in 1838 and incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania on April 13, 1844. The company provided gas service to the Northern Liberties district and Kensington, forming a broad strip of land between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers above what was then the northern boundary of the City of Philadelphia (Vine Street). The entire area was annexed by the city in 1854, but the company remained distinct from the municipally owned Philadelphia Gas Works.

In its early years, the company manufactured gas from coal, most of which was imported from Great Britain. One of its first engineers, Joseph Battin, was the inventor of the coal breaker. By the mid-1850s the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad permitted the company to use gas coal brought by rail from Westmoreland County in western Pennsylvania.

On July 2, 1900, the property of the Northern Liberties Gas Company was leased by the United Gas Improvement Company, a large, Philadelphia-based gas utility holding company, which also held a lease of the Philadelphia Gas Works and most of the other gas companies in the Philadelphia area. UGI rationalized the operation of the many small companies under its control. The Northern Liberties Gas Company's gas plant was demolished in 1937, leaving only the distribution system. Upon the breakup of the United Gas Improvement Company as a holding company, the property of the Northern Liberties Gas Company was sold to the Philadelphia Gas Works on November 30, 1955. It was liquidated in 1956.

From the description of Records, 1686-1958 (bulk 1838-1956). (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86123663